Prince William should 'cut Beatrice and Eugenie as they are rot at heart of family'

A former friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, has unleashed on Princess Beatrice and Eugenie claiming the royal pair "symbolise a rot at the heart" of the Royal Family. Journalist Tina Brown claims Diana's son Prince William will not take a favourable view towards his cousins after she alleged that they "rejected" an appeal from him to have their business activities audited.

Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 36, have been wary of the public spotlight in recent months after the incredible fall from grace of their father, the former Prince, Mr Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, over his connections with the disgraced billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Their mother Sarah Ferguson, also 66, has not fared much better than Andrew after she was also named in the so-called Epstein files released by the American Department of Justice.

King Charles was quick to act with his younger brother, stripping Andrew of his titles and banishing him to the modest residence of Marsh Farm on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Despite no longer being a prince, Andrew's Duke of York title can only be removed by an act of Parliament, although he can no longer use the title in official documents.

Beatrice and Eugenie cannot of course be held accountable for the alleged actions of their parents, but now a new report from the National Audit Office has revealed the King still foots the bill for the pair's accommodation in royal palaces despite both Andrew’s daughters being non-working royals.

Speaking to the Mail Online, Ms Brown, who was editor-in-chief of Tatler and Vanity Fair, did not hold back in her feelings about the House of York being part of the modern Royal Family.

Ms Brown, a friend of Princess Diana, has said the House of York had "come to symbolise a rot at the heart" of the Royal Family.

She said: "I am not in the camp that believes the two gushing York daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, should be welcome in the cleaned-up Royal ensemble."

Ms Brown said the roles of Beatrice and Eugenie "floating around" as "cultural ambassadors" in the Middle East sounded "horribly Fergie-like to me".

Sarah Ferguson, affectionately known as Fergie, had a number of embarrassing emails released in the Epstein files which saw her pleading with the billionaire for money and perks.

Ms Brown added that the princesses in her view just attended "hustle bazaars" for "nepo nightmares and crypto creeps", and she was eviscerating in her opinion of Fergie who she called a "freeloading shopaholic".

A report from the National Audit Office report revealed Kings Charles funds the Princess Eugenie and Beatrice's rent in royal palaces from his Privy Purse funds.

Their father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate while paying a peppercorn rent for more than two decades, an investigation has shown.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report into the royal family’s residential property arrangements after controversy surrounding the disgraced former duke’s lease of the Crown Estate home.

Other findings by the public spending watchdog include the revelation that the King foots the bill for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s accommodation in royal palaces despite both Andrew’s daughters being non-working royals.

Former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker, who has long been a critic of royal finances, branded the arrangements “outrageous” and said of the princesses that: “There’s no way that non-working members of the royal family should be subsidised by the Duchy of Lancaster.

“The royal family is yet again taking the public for a complete ride.”

Sources suggested Andrew’s subletting did not generate a profit and that the rent was set at a rate to only cover maintenance and running costs for staff living there. But no figures, such as repair and household costs versus rental income, or copies of the rental agreements, have been made public.

Up until this year, Eugenie’s rent of Ivy Cottage in Kensington Palace was based on a 2018 valuation and Beatrice’s apartment in St James’s Palace on a 2020 valuation.

Eugenie’s rent was 50% of the 2018 open market value from 2020 to 2021, and ranged from 55% in 2022 to 63% in 2025, while rent on Beatrice’s was 60% of the 2020 market value from 2020-2021 and ranged from 62% to 68% between 2022-2025, the NAO said.

The current rental rates are now 64% of a 2026 open market valuation for Eugenie, and 68% of a 2026 valuation for Beatrice.

But both rents are paid to the Royal Household entirely by the King out of the Privy Purse, which is made up of his Duchy of Lancaster income and other private funds.

For the properties rented to Beatrice and Eugenie, rent paid by the King is said to cover maintenance and operational costs met by the Sovereign Grant for the homes, with no additional cost to the grant as a result.

The Sovereign Grant, which pays for the royal family’s official duties and the upkeep of royal palaces, is met from public funds in exchange for the King’s surrender of the revenue from the Crown Estate.

The King’s nieces are non-working royals who both have jobs, with Beatrice married to a multimillionaire property developer.

The princesses faced scrutiny when their names appeared in the recent Jeffrey Epstein files, with one email exchange suggesting their mother Sarah Ferguson took them to see the convicted paedophile in the US days after he was released from prison for child sex crimes.

It is understood that the arrangements were put in place by the late Queen Elizabeth II for her granddaughters, and King Charles continued paying for their rent at his discretion when he became King. Financial matters at the Royal Household are, however, kept under regular review.

Eugenie is said to have carried out refurbishments at Ivy Cottage at her own expense. The sisters lived together at St James’s Palace from 2008 before Eugenie moved to Kensington Palace in 2018.

Andrew was entitled to sublet up to three properties on the Royal Lodge estate in Windsor Great Park under the terms of his lease.

No details of how much he earned through subletting – an amount that is not returnable to the Crown Estate – or how much the King pays for Eugenie and Beatrice’s rent were released by the NAO, with the watchdog saying the amounts were private.

The late Queen’s second son, who was arrested on suspicion of public misconduct in February and stripped of his prince title and dukedom by Charles over his friendship with sex offender Epstein, was not asked to provide the information.

A spokesperson for The Crown Estate, said: “The Crown Estate welcomes the National Audit Office’s review which confirms its leases with members of the royal family were agreed in line with independent, professional advice and open market valuations.

“We look forward to discussing the report further with the Public Accounts Committee in due course.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “We are grateful to the National Audit Office for this report, which is in line with the royal household’s commitment to transparency.

“We hope that the findings will help correct, clarify or contextualise a number of points regarding royal properties.

“As the report notes, arrangements for properties managed by the royal household vary based on a number of factors to ensure residences are filled appropriately, depending on their location, tenants and purpose.”